


stealin' a kiss or two

by sokovianaccords (eurogirl)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Mistletoe, Pepperony Gift Exchange 2018, They're Engaged and Happy and You Can't Take That Away from Me, We're Either Ignoring Infinity War or Assuming Everything's Fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 12:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17601062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eurogirl/pseuds/sokovianaccords
Summary: New compound rules and a Christmas heist. And mistletoe.





	stealin' a kiss or two

**Author's Note:**

> This is a (horrifically belated) gift for sapphoodles as part of the Pepperony Gift Exchange. I am so sorry this is so late, but I hope you enjoy some late January Christmas fluff!
> 
> Title comes from the song "Mistletoe and Holly."
> 
> Based on this prompt: we get drunk at the Christmas party and steal the mistletoe so no one else can kiss

“What the hell are you doing?”

Tony stared down at his fiancee, clutching three sprigs of mistletoe in one arm and a half-full bottle of scotch in the other. Pepper stared at him for a moment, bewildered, before she gasped. “Tony! You’re back.”

“I am back,” he said, easing the glass bottle from her death grip. “And you’re plastered, Miss Potts. Enjoying the party?”

Pepper slumped back against the wall of the closet-turned-coatroom, an almost childlike pout crossing her face as static from the wool coats pulled her hair in a million different directions. “No, I am not. It’s been terrible. All these—these _couples_ , and you’ve been gone for hours and hours and I was all _alone._ And they were all under the mistletoe and so I needed scotch. And no one is allowed to kiss anyone unless you’re here to kiss _me._ My lips missed you.”

“Well, I got back as soon as I could. You know how Congress and I don’t really get along. But I guess that explains the mistletoe you’re clutching there. It doesn’t explain how you got so drunk in the two hours since the party started.”

Pepper sat up with a gasp, tipping dangerously to the side before righting herself indignantly. “I am not drunk. You’re drunk.”

Tony shook the bottle. “Was this full when you got it, Pepper?”

“No,” Pepper scoffed. Tony lifted an eyebrow, and she sighed. “Yes. I was…saving the rest of it. For you!”

Tony opened the bottle and took a swig as he sat by her side. “I know you’re lying, honey, but I’ll let it slide because you have excellent taste in scotch and I’d hate for you to be drinking alone.” He yanked a coat from a hanger and wrapped it around Pepper’s shoulders, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I missed you too."

She rested her head on his shoulder. “I find it very sexy when you’re being responsible and important.”

“Likewise.” 

“But you can’t leave me to fend for myself at the Avengers holiday party ever again! There was so much _kissing._ And then there was me, alone. So, if I couldn’t kiss my fiancé under the mistletoe, then nobody could. New compound rule.”

“I love that rule,” Tony laughed, pulling her into his lap. Having her in his arms was no longer new, but he still got a thrill every time he gathered her against his chest. He had flown into space and broken the sound barrier and saved the world several times, but none of that compared to holding Pepper Potts, the gold band of her engagement ring cool against his cheek as she pressed her lips to his. 

The closet faded around them as Tony shifted, her pulse racing against his lips as he kissed her jaw. She giggled at the scratch of his goatee against the sensitive skin of her neck, and he couldn’t help but grin. 

“Something funny, Ms. Potts?”

Pepper pulled away with a quick inhale and tapped his chest, right next to the scars from the arc reactor. “You should help me."

Tony shook his head, still focused on where else he could rub his goatee to elicit even better noises from his fiancee. “Help you? Help you with what?”

“The mistletoe!” she huffed, her other hand tangled in his hair. “Babe, I’m brilliant.”

“You sure are, honey,” he muttered against her skin as he trailed his lips down her neck.

She giggled again, pulling away from his ministrations and accidentally tugging a bit too hard on his hair. His scalp tingled, and he shivered. “Focus, Tony.”

“Hard to do when you’re blowing my mind, Pep.”

She bit her lip and tugged on his ear. “I can’t tell you my plan when you’re doing that. And it’s a really good plan. You love plans.”

Tony sighed. The moment was clearly over, and he did really love plans. Pepper’s plans, specifically. Her hair was at its most fiery when she was plotting. “Okay, Potts, you got me. I love your _brilliant_ plans. What are we doing?”

“The mistletoe.”

“Pep, honey,” Tony said, taking another swig from the bottle, “you know I’m behind you one hundred percent. But you gotta give me more than ‘the mistletoe.’ You’ve said that several times but I still have no idea—oh!”

Pepper grinned. “The _mistletoe_.”

———

Sneaking around a party full of spies and superpowered people proved to be more difficult than either of them had anticipated as they had drawn up battle plans in the coat closet. The strategy was solid, of course, because _they were Tony and Pepper, and they would bend the world to their will if necessary._

(Pepper’s inner Bond villain really came out when she was drunk. Tony knew he shouldn’t find it as hot as he did.)

The first three bunches were easy to confiscate - the hallway leading to the common room, in the kitchen pantry, and the entry way were fairly empty. The fourth was behind the bar, where Natasha was in the middle of her eternal quest to mix the perfect martini. With a promise of two pairs of shoes from Pepper’s closet, they held the mistletoe and a solemn promise that their mission remained secret. 

Retrieving the fifth involved an unfortunate incident with Dum-E and the punch bowl. Tony’s white shirt would never be the same.

“Why did we hang up so much mistletoe for this party anyway?” Tony groused, hoisting Pepper up by the waist to reach the sixth sprig, which hung from a tall branch of the Christmas tree. Several feet away, Peter regaled the other Avengers with the story of how he almost revealed his secret identity for the sake of a spider pun, an unwitting accomplice in their mission.

“It was your idea,” Pepper hissed. “You wanted to be the ‘Alpha couple’ and kiss me under every single one.” She wobbled in his grip and yelped as she slipped through his hands.

“Whoops!” Tony widened his stance, steadying her as she slid down his front. He set her down gently on the ground and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I got you.”

“I got you first,” she said, lifting the pilfered plant above her head. And that was an invitation if Tony ever saw one.

Cheers and catcalls interrupted them much too soon, and Tony pulled back with a grimace. “Why are they here again?"

Pepper bit her lip to hold back a grin. “We decided to go all out for the holiday party, remember? Lots to celebrate this year.”

“I’m a newly engaged man, Ms. Potts,” Tony replied, pulling her out of the room with a dismissive wave at his friends and teammates. “I’m much more interested in a different kind of celebration.” He stopped in an empty corridor and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, goatee brushing against the sparkling ring on her finger. “They can have all the mistletoe for all I care. This is much better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
